Library / English Dictionary

UNLOCK

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Become unlocked

Example:

The door unlocked from the inside

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "unlock" is one way to...):

disengage (become free)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Antonym:

lock (become rigid or immoveable)

lock (fasten with a lock)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Open the lock of

Example:

unlock the door

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "unlock" is one way to...):

open; open up (cause to open or to become open)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Somebody ----s something PP

Sentence example:

They want to unlock the doors

Antonym:

lock (fasten with a lock)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Set free or release

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "unlock" is one way to...):

disengage; withdraw (release from something that holds fast, connects, or entangles)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Credits

 Context examples: 

The research is one of the first ever genome studies to look at butterfly behaviour and it unlocks the secrets of evolution to help explain how new species are formed.

(Butterflies are genetically wired to choose a mate that looks just like them, University of Cambridge)

The next morning, at daybreak, I summoned sufficient courage and unlocked the door of my laboratory.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

The press marked E was unlocked; and I took out the drawer, had it filled up with straw and tied in a sheet, and returned with it to Cavendish Square.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

The miller said: “The Devil must go out,” and opened the house-door; then the woman was forced to give up the keys, and the peasant unlocked the closet.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

But he at once unlocked their spectacles, which he put back into the green box, and gave them many good wishes to carry with them.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

Her first proceeding there was to unlock a tall press, bring out several bottles, and pour some of the contents of each into my mouth.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

A key is thrown in, which unlocks the door, and in a spasm of rapture he tears off his chains and rushes away to find and rescue his lady love.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

In acupuncture, the insertion of a thin needle into a specific place on the body to unlock qi (vital energy).

(Needling, NCI Dictionary)

The nanostructures "may unlock many new capabilities — in this case, to create special catalysts for chemical reactions that could provide sustainable energy."

(Promising new solar-powered path to hydrogen fuel production, National Science Foundation)

That's based on supercomputer simulations that identified a new phenomenon called intergalactic transfer, and it could help us unlock the secrets of how galaxies evolve.

(Half Our Body's Atoms Could Have Come from Outside The Galaxy, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)